Automatic cigarette lighter



April 26, 193s. F. M. FERGUSON 2,115,099

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Oct. 4, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l PZ 0 Z al/7 By um 9 f @www orneys April 26, 1938. f M, FERGUSON 2,115,099 v AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Oct. 4, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor www April 26, 1938. F'. M. FERGUSON AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 4, 1937 nUenor Patented Apr. 26, 1938 AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Frank M. Ferguson, Caretta, W. Va., assignor of one-halt to Chapman I. Johnston, Six, W. Va.

Application October 4, 1937, Serial No. 167,277

4 Claims. (Cl. 312-86) This invention relates to an automatic cigarette lighter, mainly designed for motor vehicles, the general object of the invention being to provide a magazine for holding cigarettes, and means actuated by a hand lever for taking a cigarette from the magazine and moving the cigarette to a point where it will be engaged by a vacuum means which presses the cigarette against a lighter coil to ignite one end of the cigarette, after which the cigarette is dropped into a chute where it can be picked up by the smoker.

Another object of the invention is to provide signal means for indicating when the cigarette is lighted and for indicating when the magazine needs refilling.

This invention also consists incertain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 isa diagrammatic view of the circuits.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the device, and looking toward the rear thereof.

Figure 3 is a side view with parts broken away.

Figure 4 is a view looking toward the opposite side, with parts broken away.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken from front to rear.

Figure 6 is a v'iew of the lower portion of Figure 5, but with the parts in a different position.

Figure '7 is a section-on line l-I of Figure 4.

Figure 8 is a view of the hand lever.

Figure 9 is a sectional view through the vacuum cup and a portion of a cigarette.

Figure 10 is a view of the lighter.

Figure 1l is a sectional view on line II-II of Figure 3, but showing the hand lever and the part engaged thereby in contacting relation.

In these drawings, the letter A indicates a housing, the back of which is formed of a plate I of non-conducting material and the rest of the housing may be formed of metal or anyother suitable material. The upper end of the housing slopes downwardly and forwardly and is covered by a door 2 which is hinged at its rear end to the plate I, as shown at 3. This door has a hole therein which is covered by a lens 4, preferably of red color, and the front of the housing has an opening therein covered by a transparent member 5. A chute 6 depends from the bottom of the housing and has an upstanding flange I at its front end for holding a cigarette in the chute, said front end being Aopen so that a person can pick up a cigarette by placing a. portion of his hand in the front opening and seizing the cigarette resting against the flange '1.

The hopper or magazine B for the cigarettes is composed of the vertically arranged side plates 8, supported in spaced relation from the rear plate I by means of the brackets 9, the rear frame composed of the cross piece I0, and the wires I I, and the front frame composed of the vertical and cross wires I2, two of the cross wires being arranged in parallel relation at the bottom end of the front portion and spaced apart to form guiding means for the bottom plate-like member I3 of the hopper. This member is slidably arranged between said pair of wires and also slides on a large wire or rod I2 which extends acrossan intermediate part of the bottom of the magazine. Bars I2" are connected with the under part of the member I3 and have their major portions spaced from the under face of said member and form guideways for guiding the member I3 in its movement on the rod I2. A channeled part I3' is formed in the rear part of the member I3, and said channeled part has a transverse slot I4 therein for receiving a portion of a lever I5 having its rear end bent upwardly and to which is fastened a lifter member I6 which is of elongated form and has a concaved upper face .for receiving a cigarette. A' U-shaped member I'I has its limbs pivoted to the outer faces of the side plates 8 of the magazine, as shown at I8, and the bight I'I of this member is connected by the bars I9 with the bottom of the channeled part I3' of the bottom plate I3, so that when this U-shaped member is swung on its pivot, the bottom plate I3 is moved back and forth under the magazine.

The lever I5 is pivoted to the bight Il by an eye I5' formed on the lever and through which the bight passes. The pivoted end of the lever has an upstanding part I5 thereon which will engage the wire or rod I2' upon rearward movement of the parts and this will cause the lever I5 to swing upwardly, carrying the member I6 upwardly out of the channeled part, after the channeled part passes rearwardly of the magazine, as shown in Figure 6. A spring 20 normally holds the lever I5 in lowered position with the member I6 in the bottom of the channeled part I3'. An angle-shaped hand lever 2l (see Figure 8), is pivoted, as at 22 (see Figure 3), to the outer face of one of the side plates 8 and has a part passing through a slot, part of which is formed in the door 2 and another part in the front of the housing. This lever is normally held against a stop 24 fastened to said side plate, by a spring 25, and the lower end oi.' said lever is formed with a groove 26 for receiving the upper end of one of the limbs of the U-shaped member |1, as shown in Figure 11. 'I'his end of the said limb extends upwardlybeyond the pivotal point so that when the handle or projecting end of the lever 2| is pressed upwardly, thegrooved end will engage said projecting end of the limb and cause the U-shaped member to swing rearwardly, which will, of course, move the bottom plate I3 rearwardly, and as one of the cigarettes in the magazine is located in the channeled member, said cigarette is moved to the rear of the magazine and then the lever I5 is raised by its ends I5" engaging the' bar I2', so that the member I6 lifts the cigarette to the position shown in Figure 6. After the parts have moved to a certain extent, or to the position shown in Figure 6, the lower end of the lever 2| rides oi of the end of the limb of the U-shaped member and then a spring 21 will return the parts to their normal position.

.This spring is shown in Figure 4 and is of strip form and has one end connected to theopposite limb of the U-shaped member and its-other end is suitably connected to a side plate of. the maga,- zine, as shown at 28. After the hand leverVV 2 I is released, the spring will return it to aposi-f tion in rear of the upper end of the limb of the U-shaped member, as shown in Figure 3, lthe rounded construction of thepartsvpermittin'g saidl parts to pass each other and the'stop 24 is ref` cessed to properly position the. lower end ofthe lever 2| in rear of the upper endof the limb of the U-shaped member |1-.- Y y j 'A bracket 29 is supported on the upper part of the rear plate and a spring o f leaf `forml and shown at 30 is connected with the bracket.A

to the position shown in Figure 6. A hollow member 34 is attached to the plate l and said member has its interior in communication withA a port 35 opening out through its front face, and this port is normally closed by a slide 36 on the rod 32, and the upper end of the bore 32 of the rod opens out through the rear-face of the rod, as shown in Figure 7, and these parts are so arranged that as the rod 32 swings to the left inl Figure 2, the upper end of the bore 32' will come into register with the.port 35 and thus the bore will be in communication with the hollow mem'- ber, which is connected by a tube 31 with suitable vacuum producing means, such as the inlet of the engine of a motor vehicle, if the device is used on such a vehicle.

When the U-shaped member |1 is swung by the hand lever 2|, in its nal movement it will engage an insulated contact 40 and thus ground the coil 4| of a double magnet 42 which is electrically connected to a battery X, as shown in Figure 1. When the coil 4| of the magnet is energized in this manner, the armature 3| will be attracted thereby so that the member 32 will bc swung over into a position where the cup will engage an end of a cigarettaas shown in Figure 9, and the cup will be placed in communication with the vacuum producing means. At the same time a contact 3| on the armature will engage the contact 43 connected with the core of the magnet and as the amature is carried by a part of the metallic frame which is electrically connected with the battery, current 'will flow from these parts through the conductor 44 to the igniter coil 45 which is carried by the tubular member 46 of non-conducting material supported from the bracket 9' extending from the frame I. This coil 45 is placed adjacent the opposite end of the cigarette from that engagedv by the vacuum cup and when the member 32, with the cup, is swung to the left in Figure 2, the cigarette will be pushed against the coil 45 and as a suction is acting on the opposite end of the cigarette, said cigarette will be quickly ignited. A thermostatic strip 41 is supported by the bracket 9' and lies adjacent the coil 45 so that it will be affected by the heat from the coil, which draws the strip away from the adjustablecontact 48 which is grounded, as shown at 49. Thus after the coil 45 -becomes heatedv to a certain.. degree,

.A' stoppin 50 limits outward movement of the rod 32 by the spring 32; and it will be seen that after. the member I1 engages the contact 40, the -hand lever 2| will have itslower'e'nd ride 01T of the upper end of one of the. limbs .of the member I1,.so Athat the spring 21 will return said member I1 to normal position with theA trough or chan.-

n'eled p'art I3' ofthe plate'l3 in receiving posi l tion un'der the magazine and, o f course, this return movement breaks .the circuit to the coil 4I,

but as the armature has been vdravirn'to the left in Figure 1, which closest-the circuit to the igniter coil 45, as well as to the second coil; 5| of the magnet, the circuit tothe coil45 remains un 'broken until-it is broken -bythe thermostatic strip 41 moving away-from the contact 48.

After the cigarette has been lighted and the,

l plate under the window 4and` this lamp is connected by the conductors 54 with the circuit of thecoil 45, so as to indicate that the cigarette is being lighted.

A lamp 55 is located inthe casing in rear of the window 5 and has-a -conductor56 connected therewith, which forms one member of a switch, the other member 51 being carried by a bent end of a rod 58 pivoted at its upper end on one of the bars I2, with said rod extending into the magazine. The part which carries the portion 51 of the switch is heavier than the other. portion so that the major portion of the rod tends to swing into the magazine, but is held against this movement as long as there are cigarettes in the magazine. However, when the magazine is empty or almost so, the rod 58v will swing into the magazine, thus closing the switch parts 56 and 51, so

as to complete the circuit to the lamp 55, which will indicate that other cigarettes shouldV be placed in the magazine. As shown in Figure 1, the lamp 55 is grounded and connected to the conductor 44 by the conductor 54'.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when one wishes a cigarette, he pushes upwardly the erated means for moving a the cigarette to projecting end of the lever 2|, which causes the lever to swing the U-shaped member I1 so as to operate the bottom member I3, which takes a cigarette from the bottom of the magazine to a position in rear of said magazine and then the cigarette is lifted into horizontal alignment with the vacuum cup and the igniter coil 45 by the member i6 being raised by the lever l5 having its part i5" engaging the cross bar l2. This movement causes a il to engage the contact 40, thus closing the circuit to the magnet 62, which attracts the armature Si and swings the member 32 to the left so that the vacuum cup will engage one end of the cigarette and push the other end against the ignition coil d5. Then suction occurs in the cup, which draws air through the cigarette and causes the end in contact with the igniter coil to ignite. Then the member il moves back into its original position while the other coil of the magnet acts to hold the armature and the member 32 in operative position with the current passing through the ignition coil 35. This continues until the heat from the coil causes the member 4l to move away from the contact d8, which breaks the circuit to all the parts andpermits said parts to return to their original position, the lighted cigarette dropping into the chute 6 where it can be picked up by the operator of the device or any other person. The lamp 52 is ignited when the coil d5 lights the cigarette, and when the magazine becomes empty or almost so, the lamp is ignited, upon operation of the parts, so as to indicate that the magazine should be renlled with cigarettes.

it is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

' It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination land arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes :fall

within the scope of the appended claims.

What claim is:

l. A device of the class described comprising a casing, a magazine for cigarettes in the casing, an arm supported for swinging movement in the casing and having a bore in a. part thereof, a chamber `forming member in the casing and connected with a vacuum producing means and said chamber forming member having a port therein, a projection on the arm normally covering the port and the arm having a port therein in communication with the bore and communieating with the irst port when the arm is swung from its normal position, means for holding the arm in said normal position, a vacuum cup carried by the arm and in communication with the bore or the arm, an ignition coil supported in the casing in alignment with the cup, manually opcigarette from the magazine and placing it between the cup and coil, magnetic means including a circuit for moving the arm to position the cup against one end of coil and such movement of the arm connecting the cup with the vacuum producing means, means for closing the circuit of the magnetic means by the operation of the manually operated means, a second circuit including the coil and magnetic means and means for breaking the second circuit by the heat from the ignition coil.

2. A device of the class described comprising a casing, a magazine for cigarettes in the casing,

' a hand lever having a part extending :from the portion of the U-shaped membermagazine, a member force the other end against theA casing, means operated by the lever for moving a cigarette from the magazine to a position to one side of the magazine, a vacuum cup, a movable support in the casing for the cup, an ignition coil supported in the casing in alignment with the cup, the cigarette moving means positioning the cigarette between the cup and the coil, magnetic means including a circuit closed by the operation of the aforesaid means, for moving the cup against one end of the cigarette to push the other end against the coil, a second circuit including the coil and magnetic means closed A by such movement of the suction cup, means for placing said cup in communication with vacuum producing means when it is moved by the magnetic means, means for moving the first means to normal position to release a cigarette after the magnetic circuit has been closed, means for breaking the second circuit by the heat from the coil, spring means for returning the suction cup to normal position to release the cigarette, and a member below the casing for receiving the cigarette.

3. .in 'a device of the class described, a casing, a magazine for cigarettes in the casing, a slidable bottom piece' for the magazine having a channeled part :for receiving one cigarette from the for shifting the bottom member rearwardly, a hand lever for operating said member, means for raising the cigarette at the end of the rearward movement of the bottom member, a vacuum cup, a movable support for the cup, an ignition coil supported in the casing in alignment with the cup and the lifting means positioning a cigarette between ,the cup and said coil, magnetic means, including a circuit closed by the rearward movement of the bottom operating member for moving the cup into engagement with one end of the cigarette to force its other end against the ignition coil, means for connecting the cup to a vacuum producing device at the end of such movement, spring means for holding the cup against such movement, a second circuit including the coil and magnetic means, means for closing such circuit as the suction cup swings to operative position, and means for breaking said circuit by the heat from the ignition coil.

Zin a device of the class described, a casing, a magazine for cigarettes in the casing, a slidable bottom piece for the ,magazine having a channel part for receiving one cigarette from the magazine, a lever member pivoted to the magazine and connected with the bottom piece :for actuating said bottom piece, a hand lever pivoted in the casing and having a part projecting therefrom and a second part for engaging a portion of the lever member to cause said lever member to move the bottom piece rearwardly, after Awhich the hand lever frees itself from the lever member, means for raising the cigarette at the end of the rearward movement of the bottom piece, a vacuum cup, a. movable support for the same, an ignition coil supported in the casing in alignment with the cup, said cup and coil being iocated in rear of the magazine and the lifting means positioning a cigarette between the cup and coil, magnetic means including a circuit closed by the rearward movement of the lever member for moving the cup supporting means for moving the cup into engagement with one end of 'the cigarette to press its other end against the coil, said cup supporting member having a bore therein in communication with the cup, means for connecting said bore to a vacuum pro- ,1 amaca@ ciucing device as the cup engages the end. o' the member to position the cup against the end of cigarette, spring means for holding the cup supthe cigarette, means for breaking said second. porting member with the cup spaced from the circuit by the heat from the ignition. coil and end of the cigarette, a second circuit for the ign means at the bottom of the casing for ieceiving 5 nition coil said second circuit including the magthe cigarette after it has been release@ by the 5 netic means, means for closing said second cir suction cup. cuit by the movement of the cup supporting FRANK M. FERGUSON. 

